The motorway was shut at around 5am on Friday morning, leading to miles of tailbacks for stranded drivers.

Emergency works were carried out on the bridge, between junctions 14 and 15, and continued into the evening.

A spokesperson for Highways England confirmed: "During scheduled roadworks on the bridge which carries the A51 over the motorway we have identified that some fascia panels underneath the bridge that need to be removed."

The northbound side was closed at the start of the day, but later reopened, while the southbound remains shut with drivers at gridlock.

Operations manager Neil Taylor said: "Safety is our top priority and we have had to close the road to allow these panels to be removed.

"These panels, which are similar to fascia boards, are around 4ft long [1.2m] and weigh around 190kg, so we will need to use a crane to remove them.

"We are working as hard as possible to get these removed as soon as we can so we can reopen the road. In the meantime I would ask people to plan their journeys and allow themselves more time to get to their destination."

Motorway flyover COLLAPSES onto moving traffic

A bridge collapsed onto the A14 motorway in Italy. Two people have been killed and two were injured

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EPA

An aerial view of the collapse bridge

The M6 links Rugby in England to Gretna, Scotland.

Highways England later confirmed: "The southbound M6 has reopened in Staffordshire following the completion of essential repair work to a bridge.

"Both carriageways of the motorway between junction 15 and junction 14 had been closed earlier today, after it was identified, during scheduled roadworks, that some fascia panels underneath the bridge needed to be removed.

"The bridge, which carries the A51 over the motorway, is structurally sound. To allow the panels to be safely removed the motorway had to be closed.

"The northbound carriageway opened earlier this afternoon, and the southbound at 6:30pm.

"There are still residual delays in the area, so drivers are advised to check conditions before setting out and if necessary to leave extra time for their journeys.

"We would like to thank people for their patience and perseverance while we carried out this complex and difficult operation."